A New Series in Oil: Embrace

Last week I began a new painting series on embraces and hugs. I’ve always loved this drawing of mine from a few years ago of two people in an embrace. In November last year, on a brief trip to Sweden, I attended a graffiti workshop and was inspired to see the embrace in spray paint on a wall.

Here I am in the studio sketching ideas for the graffiti:

Which later turned into this experimental spray paint piece:

The embracing figures have been on mind and I have recently started a new series of paintings in oil on canvas. I’ve painted out the first layer of the first five pieces, and it’s struck me how emotive the figures can be. A simple shift in the tilt of a figure’s head or a replacement of a hand upon a shoulder – these small pieces have a large impact on the story the painting tells.

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Published by Tanya

The Flight of the Maya Bird
by Nathania Aritao. 2009.
The maya bird won’t
stop flying for you, won’t stop
her flight. Steady, strong.
The maya bird won’t
sing for you, won’t sing just for
you. Listen closely.
When the maya bird
perches, she pauses. But you
can never catch her.
A getaway it
is not. Sweet soaring adventure
it proves to be.
Maya bird, she sky
dances, gliding melody
in whispering wings.
Maya bird, you fly,
never forgetting where home
is. Come home soon.
Maya bird, you dance,
never forget what home is.
Maya, let’s take me home.
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